Outta Time - Part II - Embarkation

The drive out of the Big Bear area was hard as many of the roads leading in and out were closed for winter and the roads that were open were icy. Jim Jennings thought much overnight about the Voice mail he received yesterday. He could not believe it! 'I just wished that my wife was alive to see my dream become a reality,' he thought. He was a man with a purpose now, maneuvering through the ice and snow with renewed vigor. The more he contemplated the idea that Time Travel works, his Time Travel, he became more and more determined to get to Los Angeles.

He fought his way through the traffic of the I-10 freeway and the I-15 and I-60 freeways, never looking back but still in much of a daze. He looked down at the speedometer and realized that he was speeding and started to slow down, but not before he saw the red lights behind him. "Dammit!"

The CHP officer was nice enough, but still provided Jim with the nice little ticket. It has his court date and all of the officers' mostly illegible writing. Jim didn't care at all. He thought, "Hell, I can just go back to just before I got the ticket and slow down faster." But he knew, even now, that this was impossible. It did not work that way.

Once he was done with the CHP Officer, or, once the CHP officer was done with him, he continued on through the inland empire and on into LA.

He got off the freeway at Alvarado St. and traversed the city with ease. He finally got to Smithe Laboratories and parked in his secure parking spot.

Getting out of the vehicle he noticed a dark van in one of the corners of the structure and made a mental note to tell security about it once he got inside. He walked up to the door, swiped his card key and walked inside.

Inside the lab the walls were off white and concrete. There was nothing soothing about this building, at least this floor. He kept walking down the florescent lit hallway until he reached the Glass Wall where security was stationed.

"Can I see some ID sir?" the Guard asked.
"Sure" Jim said as he reached back into his pocket for the card key and site ID.
"Stand there," the Guard motioned as he passed the Card Key through the reader and verified the Picture ID Jim gave him. "Of Course sir, they have been waiting for you."

Jim hurried to the elevator and pressed the fourteenth floor. The doors closed and lift began to move down. This facility is only one story but goes deep into the ground, fifteen floors into the ground to be precise. Jim's lab is on the fourteenth floor. The Lift stopped and the doors opened.

Cheers burst from the main room when Jim appeared out the elevator. There was champagne and cake and everyone was happy, still there was something Jim was missing, he couldn't shake it. He walked over to Bob Lansing, Project Coordinator and just under Jim and patted him on that back, "Good job Bob."
"We were all waiting for you Jim, what took you so long...Oh right, the cabin."
"Yup", Jim said as he looked around at all of the familiar faces. He looked to the Device and smiled.

The Device was the size of a medium sized backpack. It was metallic and shiny, like chrome plated air filter casing. There was a wire that connected to a custom PDA type apparatus that controlled the larger Device.

"Who went?" Jim asked to Bob.
"Patricia" Bob replied motioning to the quarantine facility.

Jim walked to Quarantine and looked through the Glass. Patricia was there in bed with an attending nurse to monitor vital signs and brainwaves. This was normal, or at least is supposed to be normal, once the device is used on a successful return trip.

Jim looked back to Bob, "Any side effects?"
"None, it worked perfect." Bob smiled.
"Wow" Jim was just amazed. This was incredible.

Jim walked around and shook hands and gave hugs to those who pured their life into this project with him. He was almost to point of tears. But there was something wrong, he couldn't place it, but it was there. "It's Jim's turn to go" Bob said, motioning to the device.
Everyone cheered and Jim walked over to the Device and put it on, still not sure if he should, though he wanted to as bad as anything he had ever wanted in his life. It felt good on him, it was designed for him after all.

"Where did Patrica go?" He asked
"1875, outside Dodge City, she said it was unbelievable."
"I'll go there to."

Jim walked up to the Embarkation Platform and dialed in the time and place and stood there for a moment, relishing the moment when he suddenly remembered what had tugged at him since he had been there. The black van, he had forgotten to tell security about the van.

Just then the building rocked with a powerful force. The lights went out and the emergency lights came on. Dust was all around and people were screaming. The force knocked Jim to the ground, barley missing landing on the Device. He got to his feet and started looking around but saw only light filtered dust.

Gun fire erupted suddenly and bullets whizzed by him. He slid down low behind a desk and waited, for what he did not know.

"Jim! Go! Go Now! Get out" a somewhat familiar voice yelled out over the gun fire.

Jim was confused but pressed the button and this time faded away and a new time, an older time, crashed all about him.